


And There You Were

by tomorrowthestars



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Panic Attacks, Wrong number
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-30
Updated: 2019-05-23
Packaged: 2020-02-10 13:46:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18661621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tomorrowthestars/pseuds/tomorrowthestars
Summary: The phone rings in the middle of the night, and it's some man Rey doesn't know, demanding to speak to someone whose name she does not recognize. Why she doesn't just hang up on him is beyond her.But she doesn't.





	1. That Night

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Erulisse17](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Erulisse17/gifts).



> For one of my favorite Denizens. I hope you like it!

Rey had only just turned off her lamp when her cell phone began buzzing on the nightstand beside her. She sighed out a drowsy string of expletives as she reached for it, halfway sure she was already dreaming.

She was so exhausted. She had finally finished the rough draft of her thesis around midnight. She’d then spent the next hour or so pacing around the living room and kitchen, trying to shake off her nerves enough to sleep. She’d had to repeat her grounding exercises twice and take a hot bath with lavender oil before she was calm enough to crawl into bed.

At least she didn’t have to worry about waking her roommate up; Rose was spending the night at Finn’s.

Rey had to put in a full day of work tomorrow, and she desperately needed to get some shut-eye.

And now, she was awake again. Well, half awake.

“H’lo?” she mumbled.

“Sorry to interrupt whatever you two are doing, but I need to talk to Poe.” The voice was full and deep and dark, and Rey felt her heart skip a little in her chest at how masculine it sounded. But there was an underlying current of panic in it also, one she recognized all too well. One she’d only just vanquished from her own mind in warm, lavender-scented water.

“Poe who?” She rubbed her eyes and yawned so wide she almost felt her jaws unhinge.

“For Chrissakes’, didn’t you even tell each other your names? I can’t believe….” He stopped talking, and Rey heard him breathe heavily.

She should hang up. She knew she should hang up. But she recognized the kind of breathing he was doing. 

He was trying to calm himself down.

She opened her mouth to speak, but he beat her to the punch. “I’m sorry.” 

He was speaking more slowly now, and she wondered if he was gripping the phone hard enough to turn his knuckles white. She did that sometimes, when she was trying to regain control. She scratched her neck and yawned again, giving him time to continue.

“I’m sorry,” he said again. “I’m not judging, I’m really not. I’m just in a situation, here, and I need my friend, whose name is Poe. He’s the man next to you in the bed right now. Could you put him on, please?”

“Look, I’m sorry.” Rey kept her voice gentle, the way Finn and Rose did for her, when she was starting to spiral. “There’s no Poe here. I think you have the wrong number.”

There was a long pause, and then he swore.

“What number were you trying to call?” she asked.

“I don’t remember,” he muttered, his voice shaking.

“You don’t remember?” It came out sharper than she intended, because maybe he was some kind of weird obscene caller, one who liked winding women up and getting them to trust him before starting in on the main event.

“Do you remember any of your friends’ numbers by heart?” he challenged.

“Well, of course…,” Rey started, and then stopped. She didn’t actually _know_ anyone’s number. She had them in her phone, and she just tapped on their pictures when she wanted to call them.

“Aha,” he noted, sounding smug. 

Rey gritted her teeth. This jerk had called her at ass o’clock in the morning and accused her of hooking up with someone whose name she didn’t even know, and now he was going to be _smug_?

“It’s the middle of the damn night,” she snapped, “but I’ll help you out a little. I’ll hang up the phone, and then you’ll be able to try calling him again on _your_ phone.”

“I don’t have my phone,” he shot back.

“I’m _talking_ to you right now. On a _phone_. And…” She stopped, frowning, as a robotic female voice interrupted.

“Fifty cents for the next three minutes. Please deposit fifty cents for the next three minutes.”

He swore again, more creatively this time. There was a rustling noise over the line, and then the robot voice said, “Thank you. You now have three minutes remaining.”

“I’m on a pay phone,” he informed Rey, rather unnecessarily. “I thought I remembered his number.” He gave a low chuckle, tinged with an edge of hysteria. “But obviously not.”

“Where did you find a pay phone?” Rey sat up, genuinely curious. “I didn’t think those even existed anymore.”

“I don’t know. It’s out by this abandoned gas station in this godforsaken deserted part of Chandrila. Just…hold on.” She heard another muffled curse. “Listen, I don’t know who you are, but I have less than three minutes now and a dollar left and I have no idea where I am.”

“What do you mean you have no idea where you are?” 

“I was driving angry. And the damn car broke down and I’m out here now and I have no idea where I am and no way to get out of here.”

 _The damn car broke down_. Well, that was something that Rey could help him with.

“What happened to the car?” she asked, straightening up and tucking her hair behind her ear.

“It’s so nice of you to ask,” he interjected, “but I don’t exactly have time for a chat.”

“Maybe I can help you. I’m a mechanic,” Rey elaborated.

There was a pause. “Are you _kidding_ me?” He was chuckling in disbelief.

Rey narrowed her eyes. “You think a woman can’t be a mechanic?”

“That’s not….”

“Why? Because we’re not smart enough, or because we don’t want to get our pretty little hands dirty, or….”

“Lamppost,” he muttered.

Rey’s tirade screeched to a halt as she tried to make sense of “lamppost”. _Was he on crack or something?_

“Phone,” he said, swallowing. “Fucking abandoned building.”

Oh. _Oh._

He was grounding himself.

Rey closed her eyes and sighed. “Two more,” she encouraged, her voice soft.

“What?” He sounded surprised.

“Two more things you can see. Tell me.”

There was a pause, before he said, “My stupid foot.”

Rey couldn’t stop herself. “A foot can’t be stupid. It’s inanimate.”

The robot voice was back. “Fifty cents, please. Please deposit fifty cents for the next three….”

There was a rustling over the line, which apparently satisfied the robot. “Thank you. You now have three minutes remaining.”

 _He’s got one more call left_ , she thought. That worried her. It shouldn’t have, because she didn’t know him. He was some random guy who’d called her by mistake in the middle of the night. 

But it did.

“The fact that it’s inanimate means it has no brain,” he argued. “Which means it’s stupid. Obviously.”

Rey giggled, just a little. And then she had a thought.

 _How much am I going to regret this later?_ she wondered, turning the idea over in her mind. 

She heard him take a deep breath before speaking again. “Sorry. I’m sorry. It’s just been a really shitty night. And my time’s running out soon, and…”

_I’ll regret it more if I do nothing at all._

“Look,” she interrupted, “see if you can find some street signs or something. I’ll send you an Uber.”

“I don’t have any money to pay for….”

“I’ll pay for it,” she assured him, groaning internally. _Guess I’ll just have to wait a little longer to buy a new pair of shoes._

“You shouldn’t…you can’t…,” he sputtered.

“I believe the word you’re searching for is ‘thank you’,” she cut him off, her voice prim.

He paused. “Technically, that’s two words.”

She rolled her eyes, feeling the inexplicable urge to giggle again. “Fine. I believe the _phrase_ you’re searching for is ‘thank you’.”

“Better,” he advised her, and Rey smiled.

“All right,” she instructed, shaking herself back to business. “Hang up the phone, go find something to identify where you are, and call me back with your last fifty cents so I can tell the Uber where to go.”

“If I hang up…” he paused. “If I hang up, and then call back, will you answer again?”

There was a quaver in his voice, she was sure of it.

“I promise I’ll answer again,” she vowed.

“All right,” he said hesitantly. “Hey, before I go, what’s your name?”

“Rey.”

“Rey,” he said, and there was something about the way he said it that made heat rush into Rey’s face. As if he were savoring it. “I’m Ben.”

“Ben.” The simple act of saying his name caused her heart to thud mercilessly in her chest. She cleared her throat and asked, “Do you have something to write with?”

He swore again, and then said, in a voice filled with wonder, “Wait a minute. Yeah, I think I do.” Rey heard him give a chuckle of relief. “Wow. That’s easily the second best thing that’s happened to me tonight.”

She felt herself flush bright red, even though she knew he was most likely referring to something that had happened earlier on, before he even got in the car. 

Because there was no way she could be the first best thing. They didn’t even know each other.

“I mean, I put this stupid pen in my coat pocket by accident last week…okay, give me your number.” 

She did so, then asked, “Where do you live?”

“What?” He sounded wary.

She groaned. “For the Uber. I have to tell them where you’re going.”

“Ah.” He sounded relieved, but slightly disappointed. “5th and Takodana.”

 _Nice area_ , Rey thought, and wondered what kind of car he was driving.

He took a deep breath. “Okay. Let’s do this. Talk to you soon, Rey.”

“Talk to you soon,” she repeated, and heard a click.

Rey sat in place on the edge of her bed, staring at the phone, unable to believe what she’d just done. She’d given a stranger her number. He’d called her in the middle of the night, and she’d just given him her number. 

Oh, and even better, she’d offered to pay for his ride home. She barely had any money to call her own, and she’d offered to pay for his Uber.

And all because he’d been having a panic attack.

 _This is so dumb_ , she thought. _Panic attacks don’t just happen to people like me. They happen to everyone. They happen to burglars, murderers, liars, people who like pineapple on pizza, people who refuse to read **The Lord of the Rings** …._

“Damn it,” she whispered, hitting herself on the head with the heel of her palm. “I’m an idiot. Stupid, stupid, stupid.”

Well, she could always get her number changed. And the Uber was linked to her credit card, not her bank account, so she could easily cancel it if he somehow managed to get ahold of it. 

_There’d better be more than a place in Heaven waiting for me_ , she thought. _There’d better be a deluxe leather recliner with temperature control next to a bookshelf filled with everything that’s ever been published. And a refrigerator full of beer and sushi._

She was beginning to drift along on a sweet daydream about her heavenly reward when the phone buzzed in her hand. She answered it instantly.

“Ben?”

“Rey,” he breathed. “You did pick up.”

“Of course I did,” she answered. “Did you figure out where you are?”

“Yeah, Antilles and Raddus.” He gave a wry chuckle. “I’ve never been here before. What a great new experience.”

She chuckled back, and they sat in silence for half a minute. It felt nice. It felt _companionable_ , if that was even a word.

Rey sighed. “I have to go, I have to get the Uber,” she told him.

“I know,” he said. “Rey, listen. I just…I want to thank you, and I don’t know how….”

“Don’t worry about it,” she assured him. “There’s a comfy chair and a fridge full of sushi waiting for me in Heaven right now.”

“That sounds nice, but I need to pay you back somehow _here_.”

“Pay it forward, Ben. Help someone out sometime. That’ll be enough.”

“No,” he said, “it won’t be. You have no idea what you did for me tonight. You have no idea.”

She felt her eyes beginning to well up with tears, because she recognized the gratitude in his voice. He sounded just like she did, whenever she thanked Finn or Rose for being there for her.

She had never thought anyone would care enough to be there for her. Apparently, neither had Ben.

_Wow, I really need to get some sleep_ , she thought. 

“Be safe, okay?” She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. 

“You too,” he murmured.

She didn’t want to go quite yet, but that was stupid. She had to get him an Uber, so he could get home.

“I’m glad you called, Ben,” she told him.

“Me, too.” Another deep breath, and then, “Good night, Rey.”

“Good night.” And she disconnected the call.

She sniffled as she put in for the Uber, thinking of him out there at Antilles and Raddus, with the lamppost and the abandoned building and the pay phone he no longer had money to use. 

Rey lay back on her bed, still clutching her phone in her hand, unwilling to let it go, in case Uber contacted her because they couldn’t find him. She didn’t know what she would do if that happened, because she didn’t know who he was or how to contact him again. But she wanted to be there, just in case.

She wanted to be there, for him.

 _This is so ridiculous_ , she thought drowsily, as her eyes began to drift shut. _This is the very definition of absurd. I don’t even know him._

And the last thought she had, before slipping off into sleep, was, _But I want to know him. I want to know him very much._


	2. The Next Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the light of the next day, Ben and Rey connect again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to try something new with this fic -- texting! And selfishlaundry has posted this incredible tutorial on how to do it, without which I could NEVER have made it this pretty. Thank you SOOOOO much!
> 
> Also thanks TWD! Erulisse17, I hope you like where I've gone with it.

Rey wearily made her way through the hazy, late-afternoon sunshine to the bus stop on 12th Street and Cantonica Boulevard. She hadn’t gotten much sleep after hanging up with Ben – an hour, maybe two. Between that and an unusually busy day at the auto shop, she was about done for.

As she joined the queue at the bus stop, her phone pinged.

 _Rose better not be trying to set me up with that guy again_ , she thought. Her roommate had been stubbornly insisting that Rey go on a blind date with one of Rose’s co-workers. Rey had no interest in the idea – she had plenty on her mind already, between school and her thesis and work.

She brought up her texts, already composing a sharply worded response in her mind, but stopped short when she realized it wasn't Rose.

Unknown Caller  
  
**Ben:** Rey, it's  
  


Before she could read any further, her bus pulled up in a billow of exhaust and a screech of brakes.

It was packed tightly, with barely even any standing room. Rey shuddered at the thought of having to stand jammed up against strangers all the way back to her apartment. 

Her nerves were already jumpy enough from lack of sleep. She didn’t need to spend the entire trip home guarding her purse and backpack against pickpockets, or trying to figure out if her ass was being groped by accident or on purpose.

And she’d lose it if she had to be surrounded by so many people. She was too tired to be able to hold herself together right now. She’d probably have a full panic attack right there in the bus aisle.

 _Nope_ , she thought, _not having it._ She’d just wait until the rush hour crowds thinned out. She could do with a bit of caffeine anyway.

She threaded her way through the congested sidewalk to the nearby Starbucks, trying not to bump into anyone. She’d been in this shop many times before, while waiting for the bus, and knew it was almost never crowded during the evening rush hour. 

_I’ll get a nice cuppa and relax a bit_ , she thought, grateful to see that there was no one sitting in the big armchair that she liked. It was no deluxe leather recliner with temperature control, but it was comfy and soft. Just what her weary body needed right now.

True to past experience, there were only a few people in the shop.

A pair of young mothers sat at one of the larger tables, gabbing away happily, only interrupting their conversation long enough to ply their toddlers with more cookies whenever the kids got noisy. 

An older gentleman sat on one of the bench seats that lined the far wall, glaring over the top of his newspaper at the young woman with glasses who occupied the far end of the same bench. She was intensely pecking away at the keyboard of her laptop, much more loudly than she needed to do. 

“Hi! Welcome to Starbucks! May I take your order?”

Rey recognized the Man-Bun-wearing barista stocking the cups, but not the blonde female barista who had spoken. Not that she spent a lot of time in this Starbucks, but she’d been there often enough to have a sense of the employees. _This one must be new. No wonder she’s so damn chipper._

_Well, at least it’s not the Grouchy Lady._

She ordered a venti Royal English Breakfast Tea and stepped to the side.

The new barista was barely looking at Rey; she kept sending sly, sideways glances off to Rey’s right, where a man sat hunched over, a cup in front of him. He was extremely good-looking, even to Rey’s tired eyes. He was rubbing his face, his phone held up in front of him like a talisman.

Rey remembered the text from the unknown caller. She pulled up the message while she waited for her tea to appear, fully prepared to delete it if it was spam.

Unknown Caller  
  
**Ben:** Rey, it’s Ben. You know, from last night. Or early this morning.  
  


She began breathing just a bit faster. 

Unknown Caller  
  
**Ben:** Anyway, I wrote down your number from my hand when I got home last night. If you don’t want to hear from me again, I’ll throw the number away.  
  
. **Ben:** I just wanted to say thanks again.  
  
. **Ben:** I was all alone last night, and then I wasn’t, and it meant a lot.  
  
. **Ben:** I can't tell you how much.  
  
. **Ben:** So thank you.  
  
. 

“Here you go!” Flirty Barista sang out, her glance sliding over to the man in the corner to see if he’d noticed her. She scowled a bit when he remained glued to his cell phone.

Rey took her cup and slowly moved to the armchair, reading over Ben’s message again, as the two mothers shrieked with laughter at their table and the man with the newspaper let out a loud harrumph.

She’d fallen asleep last night wishing she could meet Ben, and see how he was doing, and perhaps get to know him better. But in the bright light of day, she’d had second thoughts.

She didn’t know anything about him, except that he had anxiety as bad as hers was, and that he had a friend who apparently liked to sleep around. And that he’d been angry enough at something that he’d gone driving off without his wallet or any knowledge of where he was going.

Big red flag, a temper like that.

But also, possibly, anxiety related. Goodness knows Rey had fled plenty of situations in the past, simply because she was overwhelmed. She’d done it just now, with the bus.

She bit her lip, wondering what would happen if she replied, as the little boy began fussing. “Here, have another cookie,” his mother urged, while her friend continued divulging a stream of gossip.

Rey hesitated, mulling over the various safety-related reasons to not respond; but each time she came up with a new one, she reminded herself that she didn’t know him at all. It wasn’t right to judge him before even getting to know him. People had done that to her all her life, and it sucked. 

Besides, she’d liked his sense of humor – the little of it she’d heard – and he was clearly intelligent.

She nodded to herself, and tapped the empty message field on her phone.

Unknown Caller  
  
**Rey:** Hi, Ben, it’s Rey.  
  


She groaned at her own idiocy. _He probably could have figured that out on his own._

Well, she'd already sent it. Might as well keep on going.

Unknown Caller  
  
**Rey:** Thank you for the text. I’m happy to know you made it home all right.  
  
**Rey:** You don’t have to throw the number away.  
  
**Rey:** I know how it is, to feel alone. It makes me happy to know that I helped you not feel that way.  
  


She couldn’t think of what to say next, but she didn’t have to worry about that. He was already typing a response. 

Unknown Caller  
  
**Ben:** Can I do something to thank you? Take you out to lunch, or buy you a cup of coffee? In a public place, of course, since we don’t know each other.  
  
**Ben:** If you’re not comfortable with that, it’s fine. But I’d really like to thank you somehow.  
  
**Ben:** Besides texting it to you.  
  


She took a sip of tea, considering his offer.

It was reassuring that he’d picked lunch or coffee – both were quick, midday activities, with a clearly defined ending time. They could say hello, eat or drink, talk for a little, and then say goodbye. No expectations, no shenanigans.

She startled at the sound of a harshly cleared throat. The older man at the booth stood up, snapped his paper closed with a heavy, obvious sigh, and stalked out of the shop. 

The woman at the laptop flipped him off after he left, without even looking up.

Rey giggled quietly, then went back to her phone again, tilting her head slightly as she composed her response.

Unknown Caller  
  
**Rey:** It would be nice to meet in person. But yes, somewhere public, preferably during the daytime.  
  
**Rey:** Cup of tea, perhaps?  
  


“No, Hunter!” one of the mothers exclaimed, and Rey heard what sounded like a waterfall rain down from their table. 

Unknown Caller  
  
**Ben:** Ah, so you are British. I thought I detected a bit of an accent.  
  


Rey snickered. 

Unknown Caller  
  
**Rey:** A bit, you say?  
  
**Rey:** My friends tell me I sound like Eliza feckin’ Doolittle.  
  


“Hailey Pearl, don’t you dare!”

A childish giggle rang out, followed by another splash. Chairs scraped against the floor as the moms exclaimed in dismay and scolded their offspring.

Unknown Caller  
  
**Ben:** I wouldn’t have said Eliza feckin’ Doolittle.  
  
**Ben:** More like Kate bloody Winslet.  
  


She barked out a laugh, and one of the mothers glared at her. “Sorry,” she mouthed, waving her cell phone and scrunching her nose apologetically. The woman huffed and picked up her wayward child, as Rey returned to her phone. 

Unknown Caller  
  
**Rey:** Is your name really Ben?  
  
**Ben:** Absolutely. Is Rey yours?  
  
**Rey:** Yes.  
  
**Rey:** I know it’s a strange name for a woman but I swear I’m not making it up.  
  
**Ben:** It’s not strange, it's unique. British?  
  
**Rey:** No. I’m not sure where it came from.  
  
**Ben:** It’s Spanish for “king”. Maybe you’re secret royalty.  
  


No one had ever suggested that notion before. She rather liked it.

Rey winced as one of the sugared-up toddlers screeched his protest at being wrangled out of the shop by his mom. The other mother apologized to Man-Bun Barista, who had appeared at their table with a mop and pail, and then fled the scene, her own shrieking child in tow.

"And blessed silence reigned," she heard Man-Bun intone, only half to himself. There was a deep chuckle from the handsome man with the phone.

Unknown Caller  
  
**Ben:** So are you in Chandrila? Or in the suburbs?  
  
**Ben:** Or somewhere else entirely?  
  
**Rey:** I'm a city girl. I work in the West River area.  
  


She wasn't going to tell him where she lived. She still had _some_ sense. 

Unknown Caller  
  
**Ben:** My office is in the city, but I go all over the place for work. Mostly Central District, but occasionally West River.  
  


Rey tensed up when she heard footsteps approach from behind her -- her experience in the foster care system had left her paranoid about being snuck up on -- but it was just the handsome man, heading out of the shop. He kept his eyes glued to his phone as he pushed the door open.

Rey caught the glimmer of a smirk on Man-Bun's face as Flirty Barista sighed in disappointment.

Unknown Caller  
  
**Rey:** Well, then. Cuppa?  
  
**Ben:** Can one use the term "cuppa" in reference to coffee? Or is it limited to tea?  
**Ben:** Would I be breaking a rule of the universe if I had coffee instead?  
  
**Rey:** My cuppas are always tea.  
  
**Rey:** I don't know how the universe feels about it, though.  
  
**Rey:** Let's find out. Have a cuppa with coffee and see if you get struck by lightning.  
  
**Rey:** 😉  
  
**Ben:** That's an electrifying idea.  
  


Rey rolled her eyes. 

Unknown Caller  
  
**Rey:** You did not just say that.  
  
**Ben:** No, I didn't. I texted it.  
  
**Ben:** I’ll be in West River again on Wednesday afternoon. How would that be?  
  
**Rey:** I’m off at 3:00 that day.  
  
**Ben:** Seems like a good time to meet up.  
  
**Rey:** It does.  
  
**Rey:** I can't believe we're doing this.  
  
**Ben:** Me neither. I don’t usually buy cups of tea for strange women I randomly call in the middle of the night.  
  
**Rey:** Not strange, Ben. Unique.  
  
**Ben:** My bad.  
  
**Ben:** There’s a Starbucks on 12th and Cantonica. There’s usually a few people there, so it’s reasonably public, but not crowded.  
  


Rey chuckled. 

Unknown Caller  
  
**Rey:** That’s so funny.  
  
**Rey:** Believe it or not, I’m there right now, having a proper cuppa while I wait for a non-crowded bus.  
  


Rey watched as three dots appeared, then disappeared, then appeared again. 

Unknown Caller  
  
**Ben:** Wait  
  
**Ben:** Where  
  
**Rey:** The Starbucks.  
  
**Rey:** 12th and Cantonica.  
  
**Rey:** Isn't that odd?  
  
**Ben:** You're there now  
  
**Rey:** Yes.  
  
**Ben:** No kids then  
  


Rey frowned, wondering what that had to do with anything. 

Unknown Caller  
  
**Rey:** Pardon?  
  
**Ben:** On a laptop?  
  


Seriously, was he on crack? 

Unknown Caller  
  
**Ben:** You're waiting for a bus  
  
**Ben:** So not the barista  
  


Rey's heart stopped in her chest.

Children. Laptop. Barista. _Oh my God he's...._

She bolted upright in her chair, searching wildly around the shop. 

All she saw was the girl with the laptop, and the Flirty Barista, and Man-Bun, who was definitely not texting anyone at the moment. There was no one else in sight. _But then how did he know…._

Her fingers shook as she fumbled at her phone, so it took longer than normal to tap out a response.

Unknown Caller  
  
**Rey:** I'm sitting in the armchair.  
  
**Rey:** Where are you?  
  


She waited, her nerves jumping, to see what he would say.

There was no response.

There weren't even the three dots.

There was nothing.

Rey bit her lip, her heart sinking in her chest.

 _Perhaps this was a bit too much for him_ , she thought, blinking an unexpected sting from her eyes.

Because it was one thing, to text back and forth with someone you'd never met, and talk about getting together, but it was a completely different thing to actually _do_ it. There was such a nice, fantasy element to a person you didn't know-- you could imagine they were exactly as you wanted them to be. Once you met, it was an entirely different story. There would things about them that you didn't like, and things about you they didn't like. Neither one of you would ever be the perfect person that had been imagined.

Maybe it was better to just stay with the _idea_ of each other, rather than mess everything up with reality.

Rey bit her lip, determined not to be forlorn about this turn of events, even as she continued to stare hopefully at her phone.

The sound of the traffic outside got louder as the front door swung open. Flirty Barista chirped, “Oh, you’re back! Can I get you something else?”

At that, Rey's heart sped up, racing so hard that she almost couldn't breathe. She kept her head down, but let her eyes drift from her phone to watch as a pair of shiny, expensive-looking black shoes hesitantly made their way across the floor towards her.

 _Nice shoes_ , she thought, as they came to a stop in front of her. Her eyes shifted to take in her own pair of beat-up trainers.

Then she heard his voice again, just as he’d sounded on the phone last night – masculine and nervous, and saying her name as if it tasted delicious.

“Rey?”

Slowly, carefully, she looked up.

There he was, the man she’d seen when she came in. The incredibly handsome man in the corner. The man who hadn’t been able to take his eyes off his cell phone.

He swallowed hard, his plush lips trembling, and Rey remembered he was every bit as anxious as she was. She stood slowly, trying to calm herself as well as him.

“Ben?”

He cleared his throat. “Hello.” 

He held out his hand to her, a small muscle twitching under his eye. 

It was unreal, the way her arm seemed to move of its own accord, without any conscious decision on her part. She barely felt it move. She barely felt anything, until their hands closed around each other. 

Then she felt the soft warmth of his hand, and his firm, solid grip.

“Hello.” Her voice was softer and more hesitant than she’d ever heard it.

Neither of them made any move to shake hands. Neither of them made any move to let go.

He was tall, easily six feet, broad and solid, clad in a sharply tailored black suit over a crisp white shirt, accented by a black tie. The buttons strained a little, as if his chest was trying to free itself from the cage of his jacket. His face was long, with scattered moles, and he had a well-proportioned nose as classic as any Greek statue's. His eyes were pools of dark brown rimmed with golden brown around the edges. 

She watched those eyes sweep downwards over her body, and then rise back up to meet hers again. 

They were soulful eyes. Deep and magnetic. Breathtaking, even.

Rey remembered then that breathing was a thing that people did sometimes, and she let go of his hand as she sucked in a lungful of air.

He shoved his hands in his pockets, and how such a large man could look so tentative, she had no idea.

“Well,” he said, finally. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you, too.” Rey flexed her hand. She could still feel the warmth, where he’d touched her.

He ran his hand through his hair, leaving it adorably untidy. “Um. Is this okay? I’m not keeping you from anything? I know we said Wednesday, but you were right here….”

Rey shook her head. “No, I was just waiting for the bus to go home. I’m not keeping you from anything, am I?”

“No.” He rubbed at the back of his neck, then blurted out, “Have you had dinner yet? Because it’s dinner time and if you’re hungry we could eat. We don’t have to, or anything, but if you’d like?” He gave a small, hesitant grin, then continued, “There’s even a sushi place, just down the street, so you won’t have to wait until you’re in Heaven to have some. Chowa Sushi, don’t know if you’ve heard of it.”

Rey couldn’t stop her head from bobbing eagerly. “Oh, I love Chowa Sushi! They’ve got a great spider roll, and the Happy Red….”

“Happy Red Dragon roll!” he chimed in, his grin becoming wider. Deep creases appeared at the sides of his mouth when he did. It was a bit of a dorky grin, but it was also the most beautiful she’d ever seen. “Yes!”

“That’s my favorite!” she exclaimed, beaming back at him. “ _So_ incredible! With the spicy sauce....”

“Right?”

They smiled at each other in silence, and then he said, “Well? Can I buy you a thank-you Happy Red Dragon roll?”

Rey thought of all the reasons she should say no. She didn’t know him. She was exhausted. She didn’t have a built-in escape, if things weren’t working out. She’d had her day’s quotient of peopling.

And then she dismissed those thoughts, because they didn’t matter. “Sure! I’d really like that.”

“Great!” He made a small step to the side, gesturing towards the door. “Well, shall we?”

“Yes, absolutely.” Rey turned back to the armchair to pick up her purse, and caught a glimpse of Flirty Barista, who was scowling as she wiped down the counter.

Ben was already at the door when Rey straightened up again, and as she walked towards him, he held it open for her. The gesture usually bothered her, steeped as it was in the notion of chivalry and big strong men taking care of weak helpless women. But when Ben did it, it didn’t feel like chivalry. It felt like respect.

She slowed slightly, once through the door, so he could come up beside her. They gave each other a nervous, hesitant chuckle before starting towards the crosswalk, where a small knot of people waited at the red light.

“I'm going to....” Ben gestured to his jacket. “It's a bit hot, so….” 

Rey nodded, looking back down at her phone. She'd ogle him if she didn't move her eyes elsewhere, and she wanted to be respectful. 

She wanted to get to _know_ him.

Then, if things went well, there might be time for ogling.

As he pulled off his jacket, muttering apologies to the people around him, Rey pulled up her messages again, tapping on his to change the contact information.

Ben  
  


She stowed it in her pocket as the light turned green. Then, they set off across street in the midst of the rush hour crowd, to their first dinner together.

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: I'm using a payphone booth and tried to call my friend but called you instead and I'm super freaked out please don't hang up AU
> 
> I have never used Uber myself. So please be kind with any Uber inaccuracy you might have found.


End file.
